Webster Teams Up with UConn for Marketing Deal

Community banking

UConn Women's Hoops Coach Named to Berkshire Hills' Board

A month after expanding into Connecticut with its acquisition of a Hartford bank, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) in Pittsfield, Mass., has added one of the state's most famous citizens to its board of directors.

By Alan Kline

May 16
M&A

Berkshire Hills Eager to Expand in New England

Its deal for Connecticut Bank and Trust would would provide an entree into the coveted Hartford market, Berkshire's CEO Daly says.

By Matthew Monks

October 26

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) may think it can storm into Connecticut and win over the hearts and minds of UConn Huskies basketball fans. But homegrown Webster Financial (WBS) has a trick up its sleeve.

Two months after Berkshire Hills rolled out UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma as a board member and spokesman for its Berkshire Bank subsidiary, Webster launched a counterattack on Thursday. Webster Bank reached a wide-ranging sponsorship deal with not only the UConn basketball program, but the entire institution.

Headlining the deal, Webster Bank will provide funding for the construction of a basketball practice facility next to the Huskies' basketball arena. Webster Bank will also be a marketing partner with other UConn sports teams and for other non-athletic programs at the college. In exchange, Webster Bank will get to use UConn's brands and images in marketing campaigns and co-branded products.

"UConn is the perfect fit with Webster's heritage as a community-focused, values-guided bank," Webster Chief Operating Officer Jerry Plush said in a news release.

Webster officials were not available for comment on Thursday. Financial terms of the partnership were not released.

It's understandable why Webster and Berkshire would so eagerly court an official tie to UConn, as the Huskies' basketball teams have been two of the nation's most successful programs for more than a decade. Auriemma has led the women's basketball team to seven national championships since 1995, and set a record in 2010 when the Huskies won 90 consecutive games. Meanwhile, the men's team has won three national titles since 1999 and produced numerous NBA stars.

Webster Bank, based in Waterbury, Conn., and with $19.4 billion of assets, has a huge lead over Berkshire Bank in total branch count in the Nutmeg State — Webster has 123 offices in Connecticut, compared with Berkshire's eight. But the $4.3 billion-asset Berkshire Bank, headquartered in Pittsfield, Mass., only started doing business in Connecticut in April, when it closed on a deal to buy Connecticut Bank & Trust and its branches concentrated in and around Hartford.

Andy Peters

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